Kaijōsei
by Zusanheim
Summary: Having found out the truth of her homecoming, the young escaped slave ran away from home in search of answers, truth, and peace. Ten years later Koala has come far in her travels, as she now searches for a dream to hold onto and true companions that she can rely on. As it turns out, the latter may have been closer than she thought... Koala-centric! First Story! R&R Appreciated


Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. Though Oda certainly cut me off at the pass, so to speak, almost like he knew I was almost ready... I had this baby written out and passed to a friend for beta-ing when that chapter (which shant be numbered to protect the innocent) launched and took the wind out of the sails. Twice in two pages, no less! At least he was nice enough to go with the Revolutionary angle, which leaves me to my own devices.

"Normal speech with an _emphasized _word"

'Out of context speech'

_Thoughts with an _emphasized_ word_

Technique

Hon'yaku (Translation)

And flashbacks are the reverse of the italics for normal speech, thoughts, and emphasis.

**Chapter 1: Romance Dawn**

* * *

The legendary Pirate King, Gol D. Roger's one and only great treasure—One Piece—incites battles across the ocean. Numerous pirates sail the rough seas, raising their flag as they head for the Grand Line. This point in history is the Great Era of Piracy. The brave clash; pirates awarded with high combat abilities gather there. Yet in this era, there remain pirates that prey on the weak across all oceans, and none more so than East Blue.

Being known to some as the Weakest Ocean doesn't keep the weak from preying on the weaker, and even the 'symbol of peace' that the Marines hope to defend was inevitably drawn into the expanding Age of Piracy. Though most pirates that hail from the east pale in comparison to their 'king', to the average townsfolk any major bounty head is a dangerous enemy.

Wrapped up in the approach of a large pirate ship as they should be, the townsfolk of a quaint village in East Blue fail to notice someone climb out of the ocean on the far end of the port. To them, one person rising from the ocean is an average experience; how would the average townsfolk know the significance of every person that arrives at their town in the turning of the age?

Not bothering to shake the seawater away, the drenched figure slipped through the town's alleys to listen in on the townsfolk as they discussed the impending raid, their presence hidden in the shade of the building's eaves.

"I heard he recently received a bounty… A tiny town like ours won't stand a chance…"

_Recently…? _The figure thought tiredly as they leaned into the wall._ We're too far out for it to be anyone outside of East Blue… It's got to be another small-time name…_ Shaking their head in disappointment as they stepped out from the shadows, messy and drenched long brown hair gave way to reveal rounded dark blue eyes, a drenched sky-blue tea-length sundress clinging slightly to her tall form distorting the white fire-like patterns across the waist and skirt. _It's nice that I have a lead or two out here on _his_ whereabouts, but if I'm going to get any more attention I may have to take on the Marines directly at this rate, without any major names to go up against…_

"Hey, isn't the pirate ship coming in kind of fast…?"

"Hmm…?" Catching the question, she peeked back out from the wall to look at the ship itself. A large galley with black sails—flying the Jolly Roger of pirates—the entire railings and upper side of the ship were a pair of purple tones. From the keel, the open maw of a snake comprised the figurehead, its fangs bared with a cannon for a tongue. Before she could really focus in on the pirate mark, she realized that it was, in fact, coming in at a breakneck pace.

_Their sails are still full, heading straight into port…? _the woman questioned; the growing panic on her face would have been palpable if the townsfolk could see it. _They'll run right into the dock! I don't know how sturdy the foundations are here, but I'm not about to let them find out!_ Leaping out from cover with resolution setting in, the woman dove out towards the port between some of the already-retreating citizens.

"Get back, _now_!" Not questioning the conviction in the mystery woman's demand, the crowd split as she ran uninhibited to the edge of the wood planks where she planted herself, her feet and sandals dipped into the sea as she closed her eyes and seemed to meditate on the pier as the ship sailed right towards her.

"What is that girl doing?" a short man with clover-like black hair, mustache, glasses asked out loud as she stayed still as the ship approached.

A young blond woman with a light ponytail poked her head out from behind another building, "That ship's going to hit her if she doesn't do something…!"

_It won't be at full strength in the water, but I don't want to destroy the boat anyways… Here goes!_ Eyes opening with resolve, the woman in the sundress pushed herself off the pier with core strength alone. In that instant as she muttered beneath her breath, it seemed as if she stood on the water as she thrust her fist towards the ship in a sturdy forward stance. One moment became two, then three, when the watching townsfolk realized it wasn't just an instant, as she seemingly stood atop the now rippling waves.

Suddenly the wind and water exploded out toward the ship in force, ocean crashing against the prow as the sails violently caught the change in the air. As the ship slowed rapidly, those watching did all they could to withhold their shouts of surprise—compounded further as the foresails tore apart and audible cracks were heard as the ship inched closer. Finally, the ship slowed to a stop right at the girl's outstretched fist as the seas calmed. Starting to fall into the water, she gripped the ship before her and brought her legs up to kick off, back-flipping onto the pier with a flurry of seawater.

The drenched woman scratched the back of her head, chiding herself out loud as she looked up to the foremast, "Damn, I still have a long way to go… I should have been able to break the mast, or at least all the sails…"

_T-the mast…?_ was the collective paling thought of the townsfolk as her statement sunk in. _What is this lady?!_

"Mmmmm? Seems like a bit of a ghost town…"

Looking up, everyone focused on the speaker, a young man that had appeared atop the purple figurehead while everyone had been focused on the crazy feat the soaked female (who also looked up to see the new arrival) had performed, which the onlookers quickly responded to in whispers.

"He's here…!"

"That's Crescent Moon Galley?"

"Isn't Crescent Moon known for his beard?"

"It must be that hat. It is Crescent-shaped…"

"I see! Crescent Moon's Hat…"

"Odd…" the blond pondered, much more calmly than her fellow townsfolk as she squinted her brown eyes, "I thought he'd look stronger…"

The short bespectacled man standing before the ship (though behind the brunette) blinked in confusion. "…Why is only one person coming out…?"

Still making no effort to dry herself, the fellow newcomer put her hand to her chin in thought. "Definitely not Galley, and I haven't seen that face on any wanted posters; heck, he doesn't even look like the kinda guy to be worth 5,000,000 Beli, let alone any realistic bounty… So why does something seem familiar…?"

"Well, there's places to get food at least," continued the young man atop the pirate ship, hand gripped to a round straw hat about his short black hair as his red vest and blue shorts swayed in the remnants of his fellow outsider's gust of wind, "Fighting people made me hungry again. Man, I can't believe this ship didn't have any food stored…"

"Bastard!" a man shouted from the deck at the teen, "Just who do you think I am?! I'm Crescent Moon Galley! Don't think you'll get away with this!"

And indeed it was. Tied to the mast where his signature mustache and beard were far away from the view of the other onlookers, the fancily dressed captain shouted at the youth between his two remaining crewmates. Remaining that is, because the rest of them lay strewn about on deck knocked out. Yet despite the clear loss, the captain continued to run his mouth as if he wasn't tied to the mast with his crew sprawled about him with various degrees of concussions between them. Instead he was ranting like he already holding a blade to the kid's throat. "You just caught us off guard, that's why we los—wait, _what?!_ I didn't lose! As if I could lose, idiot!"

Sighing, the young boy turned back to the tied up pirates. "All I wanted was a little food, and you went and picked a fight with me," Pausing for a moment, he gestured the shape of the captain's mustache, "'Weird beard', right?"

"_Who's the one picking a fight?!_" Calming his rage into something more controllable, he continued. "This time you've angered the wrong man. Nobody messes with Crescent Moon Galley an—HEY!" Caught up in his own speech, he only then realized that the focus of his anger had already left.

"He left," his stouter crewmate stated the obvious.

"_I see that!_" Galley yelled back, smacking him in the face with his forehead, "_I'll kill him!_"

At the same time, the shorter man in front of the ship pondered out loud, "I wonder what their demands are…" What he was not expecting was the young man to leap down beyond him, the clacking of his sandals echoing across the pavement as he hit the ground running and shouted an appropriate answer to his query.

"Foooooood~!"

"EEEEEEEEH~?" the townsfolk cried in surprise as he ran off into town.

"Ah!" The brown-haired woman straightened up, shaking more water from herself unintentionally, "Could it be…?"

—-—-—

"Oooohohohooooo! A diner!" the hyperactive teen cheered before a nice building labeled 'Cafe & Bistro', "Excuse me for the disturbance!"

"There you are! I've been searching for you!" Turning to the side, he saw a blond woman break into a run towards him as she drew a sword.

"Who are yo—?"

"Prepare yourself, Crescent Moon Galley!" Leaping into the air, the blond swung the sword straight at him and landed on the other side. "Hmph. That ought to scare you," she muttered to herself as she turned around, only to freeze in shock and drop her weapon. "AH!"

Standing before her, the young man's head and neck were completely gone, his hat rolling off to the side.

"I decapitated him!" she cried in a panic, her face comically pale and wide, "W-What do I _do?!_ I only meant to scare him!"

Suddenly the drenched brown-haired woman appeared from behind the blond inquisitively, before crying out with a similar expression, "UAAAAHHH! You decapitated him! Why would you do that?!"

The latter's response was notably reasonable, "UUAAAH! Where did you come from?!"

*boing* Both of the panicking women turned to see the young man's head bouncing back into place seemingly out of nowhere. The woman in the sundress took it surprisingly well with a deep sigh, while the other let out another yelp of shock, neither of which phased the young man as he turned around to face them. "What was that all of a sudden? That's dangerous, you know!"

She, of course, was still building into a panic-attack. "AAAAH—!"

The black-haired teen, however, finally had enough, "And what's with all the yelling? It's annoying!"

Taking in a deep breath to get a grip, the blond pointed lightly to try and grasp any chunk of reality, "…Aren't you Crescent Moon Galley…?"

To which he questioned simply, "Who's that?"

"What part of him screams 'Crescent Moon' to you…?" the soaked woman questioned back as she tilted her head looking at him.

"Umm, well…" Silk looked down half in embarrassment and half in thought, "Didn't you come from that boat?"

Not-Galley turned at the waist back to face the boat "Yeah, and cause of that—"

The blond blinked, "Then, who are you?"

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy," he replied with a grin on his face, "A pirate."

"Pirate?" Grabbing her sword, the blond immediately tried to ward Luffy away. "Get out of this town, now! You'll not lay one finger on my treasure!"

Luffy kept hopping back in confusion, "Treasure…?"

"Woah, hold up there!" the brunette calmly slid in-between the sword strikes, seemingly deflecting them with her bare hands

Finally realizing that another person had stepped in the way of her slashes, she ended her onslaught with hesitation and confusion, "What are you doing? He's here to plunder this town!"

"I'm not here for dumb things like that…" Luffy replied bluntly.

To which the blond responded in the most eloquent way possible. "Huh?"

"All the label of pirate means is that they're defying those in power—the World Government," the dripping wet brunette jumped in as Luffy went to pick up his hat, "There's a good number of people like me who didn't start out wanting to be pirates, you know." She paused, flashing a broad smile across her face offering her hand to the blond. "I'm Koala, by the way. Nice to meet you!"

The latter just nodded dumbly at the odd turn of events and shook Koala's hand. "Um… Silk… Nice to meet you too… So you're not with Galley…?"

"No." "Nope."

"Okay… So wha—"

"AAAHHHHH!" Luffy suddenly cried out.

"W-What?"

"My hat! My hat got cut! OI!" He called out as he rounded on Silk, "Look at what you did to my treasure, you…!"

Silk blinked, "Treasure…? A Straw Hat, Treasure?"

—-—-—

"Sorry again," Silk apologized as she brought more food over to the two pirates both heartily eating inside her restaurant. Despite her quite perfect manners, somehow Koala was downing food at a rate only somewhat slower than Luffy, and without a speck of mess on her or her sundress. Thankfully she had dried herself off somehow before coming inside, her hair now an almost golden shade of brown in a somewhat neat arrangement of bangs and locks. The fiery white designs were now discernible as variously sized suns, while the lightened hues of her dress revealed a black stripe about the waistline like a belt. "Can you ever forgive me for cutting your treasure?"

"It's not a problem. After all, you mended it for me," he replied, without stopping his rate of eating, "Sorry for eating all of your food, by the way."

"Oh! Sorry, I should have asked and not dug in…" Koala looked down somberly as she replaced her silverware.

"Nnnnn, don't worry about it you two," Silk replied, taking a seat across from Koala with Luffy at the head of the table. "A straw hat is kind of an unusual treasure, though…"

"Is it…?" Finally swallowing his food, he went to hold his treasure in his hands.

"Even if it wasn't, it is when you get it from someone as well-known as Shanks," Koala said as she shook her head.

"Shanks…?" Silk asked back with interest, "As in the infamous Yonko, 'Red-Haired' Shanks?"

"Yeah!" Luffy answered with pride. "With this hat, I promised to assemble a crew and become a pirate."

Silk couldn't help but stare as she asked the obvious. "Are you really just a pirate?"

"Just an ordinary pirate," he replied with glee as he pulled the hat tightly around his head, "searching for the great treasure—One Piece. Ah, but I guess when I become the Pirate King I wouldn't be ordinary anymore."

"Hmmm…" Silk sounded in response, mulling something over with a smile on her face.

"Zaahahahaha! I wouldn't call searching for One Piece ordinary for most pirates out here in East Blue, Luffy."

"Really…" Pausing in his eating, Luffy turned to Koala with his head tilted, "Hey, how did you know I got my hat from Shanks?"

Chuckling, Koala rested her chin on the back of her hand as she leaned her elbow on the table, "Not only your appearance, but your attitude to a T as well. Ace certainly holds you in high regard."

"You met Ace!?" Luffy jumped up in excitement.

"Back when he was first heading into the Grand Line, we crossed paths in Loguetown," she replied. "It's still kinda surreal hearing how famous he's become."

Silk was turning a little pale now at this revelation, "Wait, by Ace do you mean the Whitebeard 2nd Commander? 'Fire-Fist' Ace?"

"Yeah, he's my brother!" Pausing, Luffy tilted his head in confusion. "I never really understood the whole 'Fire-Fist' thing, though."

Leaning back in her chair, Silk sat there in awe for a good moment before Koala came around and patted her on the shoulder. "One of the first things I learned about Luffy from Ace: humble to a fault, and it runs in the family; don't let it get to you." _Especially since you haven't heard the crazier parts yet,_ she thought to herself.

Sighing for a moment, the blond turned to look at her with a hint of sarcasm. "And you? Not going to tell me an ordinary pirate like yourself gets to meet famous pirates like "Fire-Fist" all the time too?"

That got a laugh out of Koala as she went back to her seat. "Nah, I wouldn't even really count meeting Ace since he wasn't famous yet, just earning his bounty. And I'm not sure I'm up for finding One Piece. Like I said, I didn't start out wanting to be a pirate at first; it just grew on me as my goals grew into it." Looking out the window, her eyes watered a bit as she stared out at the sun peaking out from beyond the clouds.

_Tiger-ojii-san! Thank you for keeping your promise! I'll never forget you, Aladdin-san, Hachi-san, or any of the Sun Pirates for the rest of my life! Thank you so much!_

"It's been about ten years since I left home searching for truth… for peace…" Koala finally spoke, her bangs shadowing her eyes, "If there's one thing I have learned through my travels, it's that I want to find my own treasures, my own things worth protecting. But first I have to come to terms with all the things that brought me here. It's for that purpose that I'm here in East Blue: I have to make peace with myself and all that's happened, make amends for things that I inadvertently caused…" And just like that her bangs lifted and a happy, meaningful smile lit up her expression as she cleared some impending tears from her eyes. "And most importantly, I have to thank all the people that have supported me up until now."

Smiling for a moment, Silk figured she ought to share their courtesy and stood up from the table and she told them about herself. "I'm actually a pirate's child. A pirate's abandoned child…"

"Really?" Koala questioned as she and Luffy listened in to Silk's story.

"For years, this town has been raided by pirates. Fifteen years ago, pirates sacked the village and left me, one of their children, behind." Silk shook her head for a moment before continuing. "You'd think they'd hold a grudge, show me no mercy the child of the pirates that destroyed their homes… But they let go of their anger instead, and the whole town raised me as their own. That's why this town is my treasure."

Koala grinned back as she ate another slice of meat. "That's wonderful."

"Hoh…" Luffy intoned as he finished his drink to wash down the last of his food.

"Understand?" she said to Luffy with a bit of frustration as she slammed her hand down on the table. "I don't ever want the townspeople to suffer like that again. If I have to, I'll fight by myself to defend them! There were pirates on that ship you arrived on, right?"

"Thanks of the food!" Luffy called out lazily as he started walking out.

"Pay attention! I'm asking about Galley!"

"Hey, Luf—Oh!" Koala did a double take as she sat back at the table, "Thank you for the meal!"

Luffy stopped outside the restaurant and turned back towards the door, "Galley?"

"Yeah, Crescent Moon Galley," Koala replied as both ladies stepped out of the restaurant.

"Who's that?" Luffy replied with a tilt of the head, "Odd name…"

Silk sighed slightly, "Was he really not there? He's supposed to be the Captain of that ship you came in on…"

"You insect-gathering bastard! I'll never forgive you!" From the side of the cafe, Galley and the two crew members that Luffy had tied to the mast came out, Galley's hand on his sheathed sword while the other two had theirs drawn. "Making fun of my name, too, how dare you make fun of Galley-sama! Ah, you piss me off…"

Luffy's eyebrows narrowed slightly. "He untied himself… Hmm?" Pausing, he tilted his head to the side. "Ah, he did say his name, didn't he…"

"Zaahahahahaha!" laughed Koala as she clutched her stomach, laughing and panting as she tried to get a grip and speak. "Wha-what kinda insult is *snort* 'insect-gatheri-'ahahah! Zaahahahahahahahaa!"

"Eh…Galley?" Silk interjected, ignoring Luffy and Koala as they tuned the bearded man out, "Crescent Moon Galley?!"

"That's right, little girl! You scared?!" he sneered with a grin almost as crescent as his facial hair, "After I kill this guy, I'll gather up all this town's glittering treasu—_will you stop laughing?!_"

"Zaaha zaahaha zaahahaha…" Taking a deep breath, the brunette managed to calm her laughter down and stare down the trio of pirates down the street… for ten seconds, before she had to turn away and giggle in her hands in a futile gesture to show courtesy.

Spittle flew from his mouth as he shouted, "You're doing that on purpose, damn it!"

Silk turned to admonish Luffy, "What were you saying! He's right here!"

"Ohhh, you were talking about him…" Luffy realized, "He's here."

"I can see that!" the blond shook her head before turning back towards the orange-haired pirate, "Just what did you do to them? They're so angry…"

Sighing, Luffy turned back to him as well. "They started attacking me first. All I said was 'Weird Beard', and—"

*snort* "Weird Beard…! Hehahaha! Zaahahahahahaa!"

"There you go again, making a mockery of me! Both of you!" Working himself up, Galley started stomping on the ground. "Ah, I'm so angry, being insulted like this! I'm gonna kill the both of 'em and get 'em out of my sight!" Suddenly from all around, his other crewmates gathered up with weapons drawn ready to attack. "Get rid of 'em!"

Silk moved to draw her blade, only for Koala to catch and sheathe it and Luffy to move her to the side. "You'll be in the way, get back." Luffy spelled out briefly for her as Galley's two main crewmates aimed their swords to slice him up. Dodging by jumping high in the air, the young man leapt over the whole group of pirates to land before Galley himself. With a grin on his face he reiterated, "You started this fight!", punching him in the gut before throwing a kick to the face. With a loud crash and an almost cartoonish cry he smashed through the wooden wall of a nearby house, sending a wave of fear through his crew.

"Oi oi, don't go showing off too much," the crew whipped back around to see the brunette in their midst with her arms crossed shaking her head, "These guys aren't even good enough for a warm-up…"

One crewmember grimaced and called out, "You bitch…!" as he and two others dove in with their own weapons swinging, only for her to sidestep all three of them and slide to their undefended backsides.

She smiled as all three of her opponents slumped over unconscious, "…since I'm assuming neither of us are going to get to fight all of them."

The remaining crew's resolve wavered at that. "What was that…?" one spoke for the group, "I didn't see her do anything…!"

"Shishishi… Guess not!" Luffy grinned as he dove into the fray. Ducking under two strikes, he sprung into a roundhouse kick to one of their faces, using the momentum to elbow the other, and continued to roll into each blow taking down another man with every hit.

On the other side, Koala had a different sort of momentum going, sliding through the group pirates as they fell down behind her. In seconds, the two of them had cleared out half of their opponents, Luffy now rapidly launching them into buildings while Koala left a neat pile of bodies, leaving Silk staring in awe. "Amazing! Those two are this strong…?"

"Shit…" Slowly stepping out of the wall Luffy put him through as he cleared out the cobwebs, Galley turned back to look for his offenders, only to see his crew nearly all unconscious yet again. "What!? You runts! Don't get so full of yourselves!"

Suddenly Galley's first two men, who appeared to be his lieutenants, whipped out pistols and aimed them at Silk at almost point-blank range. "Cowards!" She admonished, trying to subtly reach for her sword.

"So what…?" the fat one chuckled as he cocked his flintlock.

"If you care about her life, then don't move," the taller one chimed in, "If you move even a little, I'll shoot!"

The rest of Galley's men moved in to finish Luffy and Koala off as Galley smirked with confidence. "Die."

Both of them smirked, however, and took out the last of their attackers anyways.

"O-Oi, stop!" panicked the heavier pirate, "Don't you care about her life?!"

Koala pulled her right arm to her side with the other outstretched and got into a wide horse stance, calling "I'll take the left!" while Luffy swung his left arm above his head away from the two remaining grunts.

"I-I'll shoot!" the tall one joined his compatriot in his growing fear, readying his flintlock to fire as well.

"Just shoot!" Galley shouted out.

"Uuahh!" "Hah!" Koala's right hand shot out as her left returned to her waist and Luffy swung his arm back towards their targets. To the surprise of everyone else, however, Luffy's arm stretched out across the distance to strike the larger pirate and send him flying, while the taller man's legs shot out from under him as he flew back clutching his gut. Both dropped their flintlocks and fell to the ground a good distance away, completely out cold.

"No way, his arm stretched!" Silk cried out in surprise as she fell to her knees, before turning to look at the tall pirate, "And she struck him from over there somehow too?"

"Devil's Fruit Users?!" questioned Galley as Luffy's arm retracted back to its normal length. "Ah! This is no time to be surprised! Just die already!" Whipping out his own flintlock, he immediately went and shot Luffy in the heart, eliciting a high-pitched scream from Silk as the teen stumbled back, his hat falling to the ground. "That's what you get for being too full of yourself!" Reaching for another pistol to shoot Koala with, he froze when Luffy stopped falling and widened his stance, grinning even wider than before. "Impossible…!"

"That won't work…! I'm rubber!" From behind Luffy a length of skin stretched from behind where he was shot, all the way to in front of Silk's face.

"No way…"

"What the hell?!" At that moment, Luffy clenched his fists and thrust his body forward as the stretched part retracted, launching the bullet past Galley and leaving a quickly-bleeding cut on his left cheek as he gaped with an audible tone of terror.

Luffy brushed himself off and put on his fallen hat, "Ah, that surprised me…"

Still gaping, Galley could only stutter out, "Pistols don't even work…?"

"What are you…?" Silk questioned.

Luffy smiled as he turned back to her, grabbing his lips and stretching them out to the sides as he spoke. "I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi (Rubber Rubber Fruit) awhile back, so now my whole body is like rubber; I'm a rubber-man." Letting go, his face rebounded back to normal with a loud snap. "Interesting, right? In exchange for being a hammer, I got this ability."

"Rubber-man…?"

"It's one thing to know it's going to happen," Koala began as Luffy let out a laugh, "It's another thing to actually see it in action. Still, I certainly do agree that it's interesting and effective; it seems like you did a good job training it up since Ace last saw you—he might be in for a surprise, though I doubt you can beat him."

Luffy shook his head. "Nah, Ace is really strong. I've never beaten him once when we fought—he's probably way stronger now."

"Damn it! I'll remember this, damn it!" Galley yelled as he ran followed by his crew, dragging those still unconscious behind them in a hurry.

Walking over to Silk, Luffy offered a hand to her. "Here. Are you alright?"

Still stunned as she rose—Koala at her back helping her up as well—Silk stared blankly before replying, "Um, yeah, thanks."

"Ah!" Luffy exclaimed as a bead of sweat trickled down his head, "I left my boat tied to their ship. I'd better get it back quick!" And just like that he dashed off.

"Hey, Luffy!" Sighing as the Pirate King hopeful rushed off to the dock, Koala turned back to Silk. "I'd better catch up with him and sort this out. But before I do, I'm looking for some people that might have passed through. Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?"

—-—-—

Looking around Galley's ship for his own, Luffy saw the clover-haired man approaching him, his eyes hidden in the glint of his glasses.

Not that Luffy was looking at his face. With a call of awe he ran over to the man hurriedly. "Hey, old man, that's a cool hairdo! It's like a flying bird or something!"

His face lifted a bit further to look at the straw-hat boy, the shadows down the center of his face lightening as he spoke. "You're a pirate, huh…"

"Yep. A pirate." Luffy grinned, completely oblivious to the man's stare.

Dead silence save for the sound of rolling waves passed before the bespectacled man called out resolutely, "Get him!" and out from all the buildings came the villagers of the town, brandishing makeshift weapons and rope as they surrounded the would be Pirate King, to his ever-growing surprise at the situation.

"Ehhhhh? Eehhh? Eehhhh? _Eehhhhhhh?!_" Luffy uttered in confusion and shock as the villagers leapt at him all at once.

Within moments, Luffy was tied with his arms behind his back in ring after ring of rope, seemingly uncaring of his predicament as his capturers cheered at their success.

"Ahahahaa!" The clover-haired man chuckled in relief as he wiped his brow, "With this, the town is saved!"

One of the civilians called out from the other side of the young teen, "You let your guard down, Galley!"

"Aren't you confusing me with someone else?" Luffy questioned.

"Don't bother trying to be cute about it…" another of the townsfolk replied.

"But I'm really not him…!"

"Exactly!" From behind the bespectacled man, the true captain of the Crescent Moon Pirates stepped forwards with a saber drawn, his men behind him similarly armed as they smiled with ill intent. "Good work, you maggots. I am Galley! You see my 'Crescent Moon' beard, yes?" With a grin he pulled his mustache down and let it spring back into place with a boing.

Running up from between the street, Silk gasped as she saw what was going on. "Shoot, I'm too late…"

—-—-—-—

Lying with her back to the slanted roof of the bell-tower, Koala sighed as she stared out at the ocean; her dress swaying calmly in the breeze above the town. "In the end, no good info on anybody, and considering how much Galley covets his riches, he'd probably still be pissed if he'd been hit, so his crew's a dead-end too… Though I suppose Luffy did irritate him quite a bit, so he may just be letting it out on a nearby target." _Kinda like how Jinbe-sama let Arlong run rampant in East Blue…?_ She shook the negative speculation out of her head.

_Arlong may be incredibly prejudiced against humans but he's still a person, not a rabid dog to be unleashed and put down,_ the brunette reminded herself. _Jinbe-sama had to have had his reasons for what he did. In any case, Arlong being free means I can meet him in person—beat him, maybe, in the worst scenario—and get one step closer to meeting Jinbe-sama at last; they can't possibly keep Arlong's defeat from him, the way they keep my bounty low as long as they can. Even still…_

"Oi! Hurry up!"

"Hmmm…?" Looking to the side for the source of the yelling, Koala spied Galley's crew trying to replace the sails she had shredded as the crew slowly set sail with what they had. "Did Luffy finally chase them out of town? Wait…" Looking closely, she spied the bags of loot being carried inside the ship. "Did they still raid the town somehow? What happened to Silk and Luffy, then…? Ah!" She froze as her face paled, "I was supposed to go find Luffy! I totally forgot!"

Leaping up and pushing off the tiling, she dove from rooftop to rooftop towards the coast, rolling at each landing to lessen the impacts as her sundress fluttered in the wind. After a few jumps she made it to the edge of town where the dock began, where she saw Silk helping a tied-up Luffy out of the water with his hat in hand. Looking to the right, all the villagers were gathered up with emotions from anger to sadness visible in their faces and bodies.

"So what, just give up?" Luffy spoke with some anger in his voice as well, having put his hat back on as he stared out at the escaping ship, "Is that all your treasure is worth to you? Isn't it something truly precious?"

"If it's really that painful, then don't forgive them," Koala chimed in. Diving off the roof into the ocean, she surfaced again with an assured smile, "Right, Luffy?"

Silk gripped her shirt, drawing water from it as she spoke with tears flowing from her eyes, "Even if you didn't say it, it's really frustrating!"

"Good. In that case," Luffy turned back to her with a smile on his face, "I'll kick their asses for you."

'…!' Koala turned around rapidly in the water towards the boat, _…this shift in the air…!_ "Uchimizu (Water Shot)!" Swinging her arm out of the water, numerous water droplets flew with unreal speed off of her arm into the air towards the ship as the sound of falling cannon fire whistled in the air. The cannonballs collided with the water droplets and redirected many into the ocean or over the town into the hillside beyond; some even hit enough droplets to explode prematurely. "This level of bombardment won't get past me," she grinned as she started swimming in a backstroke towards the ship, flinging water in the way of the cannons with every stroke. "Luffy, I'll take care of this, you get out there and kick some ass!"

Silk let her jaw drop low alongside the rest of the townsfolk as they watched drops of water somehow protect their village from destruction. "H-how is she doing that? She's swimming so it's not a Devil's Fruit, and yet she can do something like this…?"

Luffy chuckled, "You see? Anybody can become strong and protect their treasures. We got this one, but you should grow strong too, and protect your own treasure from now on. That's why you should smile, Silk!" Looking up at Luffy, she saw him let out another 'shishishishi' before explaining, "If you don't smile, how can you expect all the people here to smile either? So cheer up!"

"Luffy…" Silk muttered before she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Giving her one last grin, Luffy leapt up to the rooftops behind the bell-tower, hopping to a lower-roof that seemed to line up with Galley's firing ship. "Alright, this seems good." Stretching his arm out to the roof, he launched himself in a high arc over Galley's ship and the exploding wave of cannon fire still being blocked by Koala. Puffing himself up like a balloon, he slowed his descent and fell softly into the new sails before swinging himself to the masthead to look at the whole crew, who were still scrambling to get their wits about them—not knowing what had flown into their sail.

His portly crewmate caught on first and cried out, "Captain…!"

Galley turned quickly, "What is i—GEH!"

Luffy simply showed off the teeth behind his confident grin, "It's not 'Geh'. I'm Luffy."

The brunette gracefully leapt out of the water from behind Luffy and landed next to him, "And I'm Koala! Nice to meet you! Luffy," she turned to face her fellow friendly pirate, "since you got to take these guys down once already, mind if I have a crack? I'm always looking to refine my technique."

Luffy just grinned wider, "Sure thing, watching you fight is interesting. Ah, just don't beat up 'Weird Beard'," a snort escaped from the once-again drenched woman, "he's mine."

Galley responded as he always responded to things that he didn't understand—by screaming at them. "Bastards! _Why_ are you alive? _How_ did you stop the bombardment!? _How_ did you get on this ship!?"

Koala stepped forward and stopped in the same forward stance from before as she stared out at the crew. Humoring their hysterical captain, she answered, "Cause we're better than a waste-of-space rookie like you. And if we weren't, you'd have a division of the Whitebeard Pirates coming down on you… And probably the Red-Haired Pirates… Maybe even 'Kaikyō no Jinbe' and the Sun Pirates…Worst case scenario, 'Hero of the Marines' Garp-chūjō (Vice-Admiral)… Just think how lightly you're getting off just having two young squirts like us kick your ass when you could be having it served to you on a silver platter in the Tarai Current, Mr. 5 Million."

The orange-haired captain expressed his surprise in the most eloquent way possible. "I have to _pee!_ "

The brunette tuned him out as she continued; "Getting on board is nothing for me. As for Luffy, he just launched himself like a rubber band. Kinda obvious, really… As to your remaining inquiries…" Widening her smile as she gave the Crescent Moon Pirates a very creepy smiling face, she taunted them with her forward hand to bring it on, "Step right up and learn first hand the wonders a mere imitation of Fishman Karate can do."

Panicking but holding firm, Galley pulled out his sword and pointed it towards her, "Wha…What are you trying to say, bitch…? You don't scare me at all! You may be able to deflect cannon fire, and knock out men without touching them from far away, and still swim despite having freaking skills, but if we break your leg or slice you in half, it's over! Probably…! Everyone! Send this wench to hell!"

As nervous as the crew was to see the rubber-man back and chomping at the bit to take a crack at their captain, they were far less worried about the dripping wet intruder. Those who had been knocked out had just passed out without pain, and this time they were all going in against her at once. Sufficiently confident in their chances, they roared with a battle cry to match their captain's call and charged in weapons swinging.

Instead of moving or tensing up, Koala simply let her eyes close as she let out a long exhale. Time seemed to slow down as she concentrated. _Uchimizu is good enough to slow down or redirect cannon balls, but that's only with numbers; my accuracy with most water techniques is still pretty bad, and the strength pales in comparison to what Jinbe-sama can do. But there is one water move I got down pretty damn good, and it's from that technique that I've gotten to where I am._

"What's she doing?" one of the pirates laughed at her as they ran up to cut her down, "Is she gonna stand there and die?"

Opening her eyes, she inhaled deeply. "As if. Gyojin Karate (Fishman Karate)!" she declared and, without stepping forward, threw a punch in the air in line with her forward foot, causing a shift in the air that only Luffy seemed to notice, indicated with a squint of his eyes.

"Idiot," another pirate sneered as they surrounded her completely and moved in to strike, "What can a punch from that far away do-ooouah!?" Mid-speech, his head distorted strangely away from the brunette martial artist. At the same time, numerous pirates fell onto the deck as their feet slid out from beneath them; those with better footing also started distorting as they slid away from her. Barely a second passed before the pulse intensified and scores of pirates were sent flying off the ship into the ocean, leaving less than half of the Crescent Moon Pirates standing in abject horror.

"Karakusagawara Seiken (Arabesque Tile True Punch)!" She called out before cracking her neck with a renewed smile at the damage she had dealt to the crew—both in numbers and morale.

Galley's taller lieutenant slumped to the ground next to him in shock, "N-No way…!"

Her smile widened further as she bounced on the balls of her feet, "Where there's a will…right?"

"Captain…!" the larger lieutenant started as he gripped his captain's shoulders, "These two are too strong, we ca—" Before he could finish, the suddenly found it hard to speak due to having a bare foot in his solar plexus, sending him careening through his taller compatriot off the starboard side of the ship. Galley could only slowly turn to stare at Koala, who had somehow come in from a completely different angle to take out his two best crewmates.

"Nope," the soaked woman stated bluntly with a smile that spoke only of painful injuries to the remainder of the crew, "You don't get to run. One way or another, you're getting your money's worth of ass kicking—and you _are_ paying, with every last Beli you took from that village. So I'll just say this for your benefit: fight back. Because running means I won't be happy, and running mostly means into the ocean," Ignoring the paled face of Galley, she smacked her fist in her open palm, which caused the ship to shudder and shake, "And then you can be the judge which is the crueler mistress."

"Captain," one of Galley's crew ran out from the stern, "The rudder just broke off! We can't control the ship!"

Galley turned back to Koala with murder in his eyes, "You insect-collecting bitch! I'll—"

"Nope." Koala simply swept his legs out from under him and gave him a kick before he hit the ground, sending him bouncing and rolling over to Luffy who stopped him with a sandal in Galley's face, before she turned back to the crew. Though they were all scared beyond belief, she could see that only a few were looking for an excuse to flee. _Have to hit them first then, I guess._

A whoop of enjoyment escaped her as she leapt into the fray, throwing punches that found hit their marks as bursts of air in the more cowardly pirates' jaws and guts as she descended upon them. Landing with a roll, she raised off her knees with a backhanded punch to last runner's skull, following up with an elbow as he exposed his spine. With a crack his head smashed through the deck, tripping an attacker who was trying to strike from behind. Arm locked in position, she pivoted around so the man fell right into her waiting fist, and then launched him from it into the oncoming wave of pirates—catching two others and throwing them into the cracked mast.

Without turning, Koala ducked sideways just before one of the pirates swung a large axe through where her torso had been, planting her hands and launching into a kick straight to his throat. Still in the air, she caught his shoulder with her other leg and flipped herself over, kicking off of his head and somersaulting forward. Landing with an axe kick, a burst of wind from her impact knocked three others off their feet. The martial artist let out a roar and clapped her hands together at chest level as the air smashed the three airborne pirates into each other before they dropped unconscious onto the ship. Turning to the side to dodge yet another strike, this time from the right, she thrust one palm narrowly past the attacker's face, knocking another few men into the ocean.

Before he could blink, her other palm still resting at her center dropped down and pushed his hand towards the ground; her other palm coiled slightly and launched across her body to meet the man's chin as his head followed his arm's descent. As another pirate tried to come at her from above on a rope, she launched her palm upward with another pivot sending them crashing into each other as she moved her right palm over her left as if holding a ball between them. Right as the two fell to her height, she ran forward and smashed shoulder, elbow, and fist into their bodies with the sound of breaking bones echoing over the ocean as they too flew into more unprepared pirates, taking them out of action.

Finally getting up, Galley could only quiver in a mixture of anger, shock, and fear as he winced at the sound, "Why is she so absurdly strong!?"

The roar of footsteps and drawing of blades alerted the brunette far in advance as a large group charged in from behind with sabers and cutlasses ready to slice her up. Bringing outstretched arms across her body as she widened her stance, she drew them back cocked at her sides with another shout, releasing a wide burst of wind that sent her attackers smashing into the deck to join their comrades in unconsciousness. Moving towards the aft end of the ship, she eyed the remaining pirates as they ran back out from within with pistols at the ready.

Galley grinned at that, gaining some semblance of confidence as he pointed at Koala, "That's right, rubber-boy here can't be hurt by 'em, but you'll bite the dust for sure! Shoot the bitch full of holes!"

Grinning, Koala opened her palms; "Now now, didn't anyone tell you it's impolite to point things at a lady?" Thrusting them both forward, an abnormally large amount of water suddenly flew from her dress towards the gun-toting pirates, drenching them and their weapons. To their dismay, the powder failed to light when they tried to fire, inciting Luffy to let out a great laugh at the faces they made as a result. No longer drenched, she brought her hands down swiftly in a pulling motion; the last thing they felt was their wet clothes throwing them forward into the deck before they jarringly entered unconsciousness.

Stretching her arms into the air, the brunette let out a satisfied sigh as she walked over to the door inside. "He's all yours Luffy, I'm going to go get the town's treasure back." Ignoring Galley's angry cries, she went inside to where the Crescent-Moon Pirates had stored all of the treasure they'd been gathering. _I'm letting him handle Galley, so I'll just take a bit for the road to make up for the lost bounty. 5,000,000 Beli is chump change out of here by the looks of it; there's easily twice what they took from Silk's village._

Pocketing the paper money, she heard Luffy start talking to Galley (something about stepping on his treasure; Koala honestly wasn't paying much attention) as she went about compacting the riches into bigger containers. She was just hefting a large bag onto her back when she heard Luffy calling something out.

"Gomu Gomu no…!"

"Ah, hell…" Koala deadpanned as she grabbed the other chest she'd stuffed the gold coinage into and dove for the window.

"…Ono (Rubber Rubber Axe)!" She leapt out the window in the nick of time as the ship collapsed into its keel where Luffy had planted his extended foot, breaking it straight in half.

Spying a small boat that she assumed was Luffy's, the brunette thrust her hand out and snapped the post it was tied to before throwing the treasure over to it before she landed in the water and it dragged her down to the bottom. "Luffy, I was still in there! What if I had died?!"

Luffy looked over blankly as he retracted his foot and walked on the wreckage over to the boat, "Ah, my bad."

Koala just stared at him for a moment before she let out a snort and burst out laughing, "Zaahahahaha! It's fine, it's fine! Everything worked out in the end."

Luffy grinned back, "Shishishi, sure did!"

"Damn it! Don't you forget this!" Turning, they both saw Crescent Moon Galley sliding down half of the ship as he held on for dear life. "Some day I'll set out to find you, and I'll definitely kill you! _Straw Hat! Ocean wench! Remember this!_"

"That's '_Kaijōsei_' to you!" Koala shouted back with surprising fervor as she swam over to the boat, "I put a lot of time getting my name out there so I wouldn't get some crap epithet, so yo— " the brunette shook her head talking to herself, "Calm down, he's a low-rank money-grubbing pirate, it doesn't matter if he doesn't know who you are…"

Sighing, Luffy turned a hard eye towards Galley, "From the start to the end, you're the one who came and started a fight. Why do I have to remember you; it's a pain." And with that, he put his foot in his gut and launched him through the ship and into the ocean.

—-—-—

"Hey, this is more than what they took from us," one of the villagers spoke up excitedly as they went through the chest and bag of treasure the two had left them.

"Yeah," another replied somewhat confused, "that kid said it wouldn't fit on his boat."

The clover-haired man stared out at the ocean where the two had embarked, fingers to his forehead as he scrunched up his face in thought. "Just who was he, that kid…? He came in on a pirate ship, but he fought the pirates and gave us treasure…?"

Over to the side, Silk sat with her legs swinging over the edge of the dock, her hands resting casually on her sword across her lap. _Thank you for everything Luffy, Koala… Good luck finding One Piece, and… I hope you find whatever you're looking for, Koala, but if it's a friend and nakama you can trust, I think he's closer than you think._ Smiling a bit more, she looked out to the horizon. "So there are some good kinds of pirates out there, too."

—-—-—

Koala sighed with a small smile as she swam on her back, staring up at the sky. "What an exhausting day… No leads, nothing productive but Five Million in the bank…" Pausing, her smile grew a little, "No, not totally fruitless; I finally got to meet Luffy. He certainly is fun to be around, and pretty strong too… Pirate King Monkey D. Luffy, huh… What a beautiful dream. If only I had something tangible and grand like that to grasp on to. I guess I'll know it when I find it…" Sighing again as her smile waned, her eyes wandered higher in the sky with the beginnings of tears.

_I wonder if he'll really wait for me…_ she thought, remembering moments ago when they parted ways.

_"Hey, you should become my nakama (comrade)!"_

_Koala blinked, "What?"_

_Luffy squinted back with a frown, "Or did Ace already get you to join his crew…?"_

_"Wha-No! I haven't joined anybody's crew!" the brunette stammered out, very much out of her zone of understanding. "Why do you want me to join?"_

_Luffy looked at her blankly and said, "I just feel like it," as if it was the most basic compelling reason a human being could ask for._

_Koala just stared at Luffy long and hard before letting out a long sigh. "I appreciate the offer, Luffy, I really do… I mean, just cause I'm good in a fight, I don't really think I have that much to contribute, not to mention how much trouble I usually end up bringing along, and some of my hab—OW!" Koala grabbed her head where Luffy had whacked her with his fist, "Why did you hit me?"_

_"Just felt like it."_

_The martial artist gave him a strong deadpan glare before sighing again. "Anyway, as much as I appreciate it and find it all too flattering, I have things I need to sort out myself, and until then I don't think I can really join a crew, or…"_

_"Eehhhhh, what do you have to do?" Luffy questioned with a squinting pout, "Whoever is getting in your way, all I have to do is beat them up, right?"_

_"NO!" Koala covered her mouth, surprised by the volume she put into the interjection, "I mean… *sigh* It's… It's complicated… I have to set things straight on my own…" Turning back to Luffy, she offered her hand out to him, "Maybe when I get everything worked out, I'll find you and join up, okay?"_

_Slapping the hand, Luffy gave her a grin, "I'll be waiting, Koala. Shishishi!"_

_Smiling back, she gave him a wave, "Until then, Luffy! Say hi to Ace for me if you see him!"_

"Nakama… Hmmm… If he's really waiting, then… Maybe someday. But for now, I have to finish what I started, and that means finding Arlong." Her head drooped a bit, shading her eyes behind her hair. _What he's doing here in East Blue is wrong. He's already hurt so many people just when he sailed into this ocean, and knowing him…_

_You know as much as I do…_ a woman's voice echoed within her head, _everyone expects the Marines to help, but they don't think about helping anyone that really needs it. There are tons of things that need the Marines' attention: people murdered, entire villages destroyed, slavery continues on. And they always fail to do a single thing about so many problems…_

___…_I couldn't rely on the World Government before, and I certainly can't now, not when they send their military to reclaim freed slaves for corrupt nobility, or chasing after fairy tales in delusions of grandeur… I just have to keep fighting alone, and with a bit more effort, everything will be the same as before; everything will come back to me… And I can finally laugh with all my heart.

"Nami…" she whispered as if passing the words on the wind, her hand rising palm up to the sun as if holding her message out for the breeze to take them away, "I can only imagine what Arlong put you through… what he's doing to you now… but somehow," she raised her voice as she clenched her fist, her head rising with determination, "I'm going to make things right, even if you don't believe me and keep fighting, stealing, and living on your own. I'll find you a place where you can be free, and laugh to your heart's content… and cry to your heart's content… even if I have to build it myself."

* * *

**Excellent excellent. So it begins.**

**This chapter, along with my anticipated 2nd and 3rd, will be delving generally into the ten year gap for Koala, before we get things rolling en masse (not that major things won't be happening though). I'd give you a next-time, but I've already made a subtle hint towards the next bit—kudos to whomever figures it out!**

**Thanks to the friend who beta'd this, keeping me from using too much Japanese on the fly and all that good stuff, to a few other friends who went over it, and everybody who has supported my need to let out the numerous ideas from my head.**

**Questions, Comments, Snide Remarks, Concerns, etc. are appreciated. Pre-empting one, there will probably more detailed line-breaks in the future; in this case, everything happened pretty quickly in a small area, and the flashbacks flowed well into the writings.**

**Hope you enjoyed, and that you'll enjoy the ride!**


End file.
